Memorial to Forest Brothers in Ertsma
Memorialinis vieta
100
The Battle of the Bunker in Ertsma took place on 27 February 1949. Constructed near the village of Ertsma, the bunker was home to a large group of Forest Brothers, the leaders of the Union of Armed Struggle and army privates. At 6.00 am that day, NKVD units surrounded the bunker. As many as 15 agents of the Ministry of State Security of the Estonian SSR and 350 soldiers are said to have taken part in the raid. Nine people were killed in the attack. One of the two surviving men was wounded and captured, while the other managed to escape. The wounded Forest Brother, Mihkel Ellermaa, was deported to Siberia. His wife and two-year-old daughter were among those killed. His older daughter had been at her grandmother's at the time. It is still unknown where the dead were buried.
On 27 February 1994, exactly 45 years after the shootout, this memorial was unveiled by Kodesmaa Bog near the former site of the bunker.
Panaudoti šaltiniai ir literatūra:
ERR. https://www.err.ee/914932/ertsma-kulas-tahistati-punkrilahingu-70-aastapaeva
https://dea.digar.ee/cgi-bin/dea?a=d&d=halingavalla20120301.2.10.4
Pärnu Postimees. https://parnu.postimees.ee/89041/ertsma-metsaservas-kangastus-60-aasta-tagune-verine-lahing
